Cristano Ronaldo v Lionel Messi, Head 2 Head

As Argentina and Portugal line up to face each other in a battle to decide who’s got the better player / fine-tune tactics for more important games / make some money, we look at a head-to-head comparison between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (Part #439571291).

Cristiano Ronaldo has never scored or assisted a single goal when facing Lionel Messi in a competitive match, losing the last four in a row, whereas the Argentine star has scored twice and set up another two goals against his Portuguese counterpart.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s poor record against Lionel Messi – all competitions

Date

Ronaldo’s team

Messi’s team

Ven.

Score

Res.

Ronaldo

Messi

Goals

Assists

Goals

Assists

23/04/2008

Manchester United

Barcelona

A

0-0

D

0

0

0

0

29/04/2008

Manchester United

Barcelona

H

1-0

W

0

0

0

0

27/05/2009

Manchester United

Barcelona

N

0-2

L

0

0

1

0

29/11/2009

Real Madrid

Barcelona

A

0-1

L

0

0

0

0

10/04/2010

Real Madrid

Barcelona

H

0-2

L

0

0

1

0

29/11/2010

Real Madrid

Barcelona

A

0-5

L

0

0

0

2

Total goal involvement

0

4

The two players have met on six occasions – always at club level – and Messi has been on the winning side four times, whereas Ronaldo just once. To make matters worse for the Portuguese starlet, he has only seen his team score once when facing the 2009 & 2010 Ballon d’Or: a Paul Scholes goal at Old Trafford on 29th of April 2008 in the Champions League semi-final return leg.

The two players have both scored 24 league goals this term; however Lionel Messi has needed three games less to reach this tally. The two Liga titans are hoping to break the all-time season-record of 38 goals, held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez.

Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi’s goals – Spanish La Liga 2010/11

Lionel Messi

La Liga 2010/11

Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona

Team

Real Madrid

19

Appearances

22

1,709

Minutes On Pitch

1,980

Goal Attempts

24

Goals

24

71

Mins per goal

83

0

Headed goals

3

2

Right footed goals

15

22

Left footed goals

6

19

Goals inside box

20

5

Goals outside box

4

2

Penalty goals

5

1

Direct free kick goals

2

78

Shots

119

72%

Shooting Accuracy

53%

31%

Chance Conversion

20%

Both players seem have managed to put their disappointing World Cup campaigns behind them: Lionel Messi failed to find the net in South Africa last summer despite playing 450 minutes and firing 21 shots. While Ronaldo scored once, in Portugal’s 7-0 win against North Korea.